April Special Elections for Two State House Seats

Special elections to fill two recently vacated state House seats will be held next month.
Voters in the 7^th District, which covers northwest Hartford, and in the 68^th District, which includes Watertown and part of Woodbury, will go to the polls April 25.
The seats became vacant after the representatives occupying them ran successfully for the state Senate in Feb. 28 special elections.
Republican Eric Berthel resigned his 68^th District seat following his win in the 32^nd Senate District, which includes 10 towns in Litchfield and New Haven counties.
That Senate seat opened in January when incumbent Republican Rob Kane resigned. Kane was later appointed state auditor.
Democrat Douglas McCrory resigned the 7^th House District seat after his Feb. 28 win in the 2^nd Senate District, which includes parts of Bloomfield, Hartford and Windsor.
Veteran Democrat Eric Coleman resigned the seat in January—after winning a 12th term last November—in anticipation of a judicial appointment.
Democrats nominated Rickey Pinckney, a 53-year-old military veteran, to fill McCrory’s seat.
Pinckney faces Working Families Party candidate Joshua Hall, a Hartford Federation of Teachers officer, and petitioning candidate Kenneth Green, a former Democratic state representative.
Republicans have yet to nominate a candidate.
In the 68^th House race, Republicans nominated Watertown Town Council member Joseph Poletta, while Democrats nominated Louis Esposito Jr., a Watertown planning and zoning commissioner and former town council member.
Polling places in the two districts will be open April 25 from 6 am to 8 pm.
Democrats currently hold a 78-71 advantage in the state House while the Senate is tied 18-18.